Kamijou Touma and Last Order hid behind the pillar.
A frightening silence filled the dark family restaurant.
The next 30 seconds were filled with despair.
Kamijou thought the stress would cause his brain's structure to collapse.
But as he held his breath behind the pillar, he noticed something odd.
No matter how long he waited, the men did not reach them.
The men in black who had entered the family restaurant had to know generally where Kamijou and Last Order were. And the men had to know they had no real weapons. A group armed and armored would not stop altogether out of caution for an unarmed high school boy and little girl.
(What is going on?)
Part of him warned that making any move would be dangerous.
Part of him warned that he might lose his chance if he did not make his move soon.
"…"
As Last Order pressed up against him, she forlornly grabbed onto his shirt.
The feeling of her small hand just barely allowed Kamijou to keep his presence of mind.
Another 30 seconds passed.
He heard no noticeable sounds.
Only the sound of the broken glass raining down sounded oddly loud in Kamijou's ears.
He held his breath.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
He waited.
And then something happened.
"Hiiii♪ Did I surprise you? Don't be afraid and come on out."
He heard a high-pitched female voice
Due to the pillar Kamijou was using as a shield, he could not see her face.
He did not even know where she was.
But…
(What? This is clearly different from those men.)
The men in black who had been pursuing Kamijou and Last Order had tried to kill them quickly and silently while avoiding as much self-assertion as possible. To put it simply, they eliminated all that was unnecessary and took the bare minimum of action.
This female voice was the exact opposite of that.
The very act of speaking out to appeal to her own presence did not match the behavior pattern of those men in black. She seemed to be the sort of commando that was far removed from those shadow-like existences that might be men, women, or even not human for all Kamijou could tell.
(So is she not with those men in black?)
But he still felt it would be dangerous to head out too readily. He still did not know who the voice belonged to.
"Ha ha. Don't be afraid. Well, I guess it can't be helped after such a close call. But I have my own problems to deal with, so if you refuse to listen…"
With a laugh, the female voice continued.
The indifferent voice did not seem to care at all about Kamijou and Last Order's unrest and concern.
"…I'll beat you to a fucking pulp."
"!!"
Kamijou grabbed Last Order's body in his arms and lay down on the floor over her as if leaping out from behind the pillar.
A great roar rang out.
An unseen horizontal strike struck the pillar they had just been using as a shield. The attack struck the center of the pillar and the center bent to the side before it broke completely in two and flew into the wall. It happened with such great speed that the two pieces slammed deep into the wall like artillery shells and the wall crumbled.
The entire building shook.
The framework of the building must have been damaged because all the glass in the restaurant that had survived the men in black's attack shattered with a high pitched noise.
While still covering Last Order, Kamijou's eyes raced around the area.
A woman stood in the center of the dark main floor.
The streetlights outside dimly illuminated her silhouette.
She was a strange woman.
Her clothes looked like the kind of dress woman wore in medieval Europe. Her hair was covered by a cloth wrapped around her head, so not even a single hair was visible. She had piercings in her mouth, nose, and eyelids that destroyed the balance of her face. She wore gaudy makeup that accentuated her eyes which made her seem all the more intimidating.
And in her hand…
She held a giant hammer that exceeded a meter in length. Sharp barbed wire was wrapped around it from halfway up the grip to the very top. It may have been to prevent anyone from grabbing the handle or it may have been a ceremonial decoration.
(…)
Being hit by that would definitely hurt, but it seemed unlikely she could defeat a group covered in armored uniforms and armed with submachine guns with just that hammer. Yet for some reason or another, the men in black were collapsed on the ground around the woman.
None of them seemed to be conscious.
(This…)
How had she completely silently neutralized these men in black who were armed, armored, and highly trained?
(This reminds me of…)
The lack of information accentuated the eeriness of it all.
(Of the collapsed Anti-Skills I found outside the underground mall…)
The one thing Kamijou knew was that this woman was not his ally.
(And the men in black collapsed next to that destroyed vehicle!!)
"Who are you…?" asked Kamijou in a low voice as he stood up from Last Order.
In response, the woman lightly shook the strange hammer and quietly spoke.
"I am Vento of the Front, a member of God's Right Seat." The woman naming herself as Vento stuck out her tongue teasingly. "Target located. And so it's time to kill you, Kamijou Touma."
A thin chain jangled down when she stuck out her tongue.
At the end of the chain was a small cross wet with saliva.